One of the most incredible stunts in history has inspired a generation of daredevils and outlaws on Instagram and YouTube

You know those YouTube videos of the crazy Russians dangling from skyscrapers in China?

How about the urban outlaws who train surf with their cameras rolling?

Do today's daredevils, stars of Instagram and YouTube, have anything in common with the original master of the high-stakes spectacle, Philippe Petit? After all, what could be more subversive and outrageous than walking on a tightrope between the two World Trade Center towers during rush hour on a Tuesday morning in 1974?